Interfacial reactions on annealing molybdenum-silicon multilayers

Abstract

The structure and interfacial reaction in sputtered Mo‐Si multilayers have been studied using cross‐section transmission electron microscopy,electron diffraction,Rutherford backscattering, and low‐angle x‐ray diffraction. Low‐temperature (T<550 °C) annealing was performed in a rapid‐thermal‐annealing furnace and i n s i t u in the microscope. No solid‐state amorphization was observed, in spite of the presence of amorphous alloy interfacial layers in the as‐deposited structure. Instead, the amorphous interlayers crystallize, and growth of the crystalline product, hexagonal‐MoSi2, proceeds. The bilayer period contracts during the reaction, as the disilicide is more dense than its constituents.